There has been some confusion in recent days with the emergence of two separate maritime accidents linked to our port, which demands more clarity and information on how these, in fact, could have happened.

Wednesday saw HMS Ambush, a nuclear powered submarine collide with a chemical carrier, which mercifully retained full integrity with no known spills into the sea. The submarine, we are also told, sustained external damage only with no impact on its nuclear reactor.

This is however pending a full check-over by the relevant experts and it is hoped that technical reports will confirm the initial assessment with information being made available to the public.

Another incident, this time on the Thursday night, involved a collision between Vemaoil XIII and another commercial vessel with the oil carrier sustaining a large gash on the exterior hull. Thankfully, legislation demands that vessels are now double hulled thus eliminating otherwise potentially large volumes of polluting cargo to enter the marine environment.

While luck may have prevailed this time round in minimising the impacts from these collisions on the natural environment, questions must be asked as to how these accidents occurred in the first place. There must also be a review of all monitoring systems in place as well as of the information sharing processes between civilian and military port activity.

Two accidents in one week is alarming and demands a full and open investigation and reassurances given to the public that the growing levels of maritime activity in the area can be managed safely.